The EU wants to replace at least some of the fertiliser it imports from Russia with products processed from “homegrown” animal dung and urine to reduce revenues going to Moscow’s war machine.
Christophe Hansen, the agriculture commissioner, told journalists that manure-based fertiliser could reduce dependency on imported chemical fertilisers, and was cheaper than artificial equivalents, which require a lot of energy to produce.
“The livestock sector can provide a positive input to the circular economy — that is domestically grown and doesn’t need to come from outside and is not based on high energy prices like gas,” he said. “We need to see the opportunities as well [as the challenges].”